More than a century after one of the deadliest workplace disasters in U.S. history, the lessons of New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire are still shaping conversations about worker safety — this time in South Florida.
The issue took center stage over the weekend at Books & Books in Coral Gables, where journalist and historian David Conrad launched his new book, “Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Origins of Modern Charity.”
Conrad joined members of WeCount!, a member-led human rights organization that organizes immigrant workers and families in South Florida, for a panel discussion on the parallels between the 1911 disaster and the conditions facing workers today.
“We tend to think about the Triangle fire as having closure … when in reality, it really opened up a struggle that we’re still living with today,” Conrad said.
That struggle is particularly visible among South Florida’s immigrant workforce. This group makes up more than 47% of agricultural workers, 41% of hotel workers and 35% of construction workers, according to 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.
“We face low wages, workplace abuse, and pay that simply isn’t enough to live on,” said Araceli, a panelist and WeCount! member who spoke in Spanish and asked that her last name not be used. “It amounts to modern-day slavery. We endure grueling labor, driven as if we were machines.”
In the region’s plant-nursery industry – where Araceli works – workers face many of the same concerns. The $50 billion industry is fueled by growing demand for houseplants, with Florida producing nearly 70% of the nation’s indoor foliage. Yet its largely immigrant workforce, many of them women and workers of color, often works in low-wage and physically demanding conditions.
A 2024 WeCount! survey of more than 300 Miami-Dade nursery workers found that 86% had experienced a workplace accident or illness, nearly one-third lacked access to drinking water and more than 60% had never received paid sick or vacation days. More than half of the women surveyed also reported experiencing sexual harassment or discrimination on the job.
“You might look at a beautiful plant in your home, but you don’t ask yourself about the human cost — what that worker went through,” she said. “It is crucial to raise awareness that modern slavery still exists today and that workers lack protections. Just as it happened years ago in New York.”
Conrad said workers’ experiences are often overlooked because they have little opportunity to share them publicly.
“I think there’s not a lot of opportunities to hear from workers because they’re always working,” Conrad said. “We don’t really get an understanding of what it’s like to be in certain workplaces today from the media, and often those voices aren’t centered.”
The concerns raised at the panel echo the conditions that helped make the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire a turning point in U.S. workplace safety.
On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in a rag bin at the factory in Greenwich Village. It occupied the top three floors of a 10-story building and employed mostly young immigrant women, many of them Jewish and Italian immigrants who did not speak English.
The fire spread rapidly through piles of fabric and other flammable materials. Workers encountered locked or inaccessible doors, inadequate fire escapes and other obstacles as they tried to flee. Firefighters’ ladders could not reach the upper floors.
By the time it was extinguished, 146 workers had died. Some were killed by flames and smoke while others jumped from windows to escape.
The disaster shocked New York and the nation, exposing the dangerous conditions faced by immigrant factory workers. It helped fuel the labor movement and prompted stronger workplace protections, including improved fire exits, working conditions and building safety standards.
More than 100 years later, advocates say workers still face unsafe conditions and limited protections.
The U.S. Department of Labor says employers cannot retaliate against workers who raise concerns about wages or working conditions, although immigration status can affect the remedies available in some cases.
Madi Paez, a panelist and WeCount! member, said the history of the Triangle fire should serve as a warning to policymakers and employers.
“We have to look back to the past, analyze history to figure out how we should move forward,” Paez said. “We shouldn’t have to wait for a catastrophe to happen again for us to make the right choice.”
